[stuff] << Each to their own of course, but my feeling is that by studying the cards in advance you rob them of their “free will” by meeting them before the proper time. It also strikes me as a highly analytical approach for a non-analytical pursuit… >>

The cards do not have a will of their own. They’re a tool and nothing more. As with just about everything else, there is no “right” way that works best for everybody. Studying the deck isn’t really an analytical thing, it’s just a way of becoming completely familiar with it. You can give a good reading when you’re unfamiliar with a deck, but the drawback is that it will take you much longer to give the reading. Also, if you’re going to charge for your readings, it doesn’t make you look very competent if you’re constantly having to refer to your book to look up the cards.

When I first started, a reading would average 1 1/2 to 2 hours. That’s way too long. Of course, I started out just practicing on my friends, so they were patient with me. I also never asked for any money to do readings. Even after I became very proficient at it.

When it comes to knowing the deck, you’re really better off if you know the deck very well or don’t know it at all. If you become familiar with just part of the deck, or with just certain cards, you can change the reading from what it should be by subconsciously pulling those cards into it that you’re most familiar with. Then the person doesn’t get an accurate reading.

The 2nd problem is giving readings to people you know fairly well. What happens alot is that the cards may say something about that person which involves some drastic change in their life but you’ll look for some other interpretation because you know them and you tell yourself, “there’s no way this person’s going to quit their job or do this or that”. It’s very difficult to keep your personal knowledge about someone from having any influence in the way you interpret the cards.

My recommendation would be to become as familiar with the cards as you can. Also, spend a lot of time handling them. Keep them wrapped in silk and don’t let other people handle them unless you’re giving them a reading. Find the type of deck that you feel most comfortable with and use only that deck. When you’ve become very adept, then you can experiment with other types of decks.

<< Interesting. I know a lot of Tarot-philes who would agree with you that it is a ‘non-analytical’ pursuit. But historically, that’s not true at all. A lot, possibly most, of the symbolism built into, say, the Rider-Waite deck is based on Waite’s conception of the kabalah and how it relates to the Tarot. Since most of the decks now on the market are based on the Rider-Waite, to an extent they all incorporate this influence. The same could be said of the Crowley deck and its decendants, and between the two of them they probably account for 80% or so of the decks you could find. So all these decks are based very much on an ‘analytic’ approach to the Tarot. >>